(Note, I use the "Royal You" here).
$7 is over 10% the sticker price of the original game. Yet we are not given over 10% of the actual content. Arguably, in a 40+ hour game with dozens upon dozens of mpas, this DLC brought an objective worth of less than a few dollars.
But the DLC sold tens of thousands of copies. Many, many people made the decision that, despite the objective smaller value this brings, I will pay it. And many enjoyed it. Many also expected that this character, a character they had paid premium money for, would be integrated into future installments. When she was not (hardly touched on at all in ME3, like most ME2 companions), many felt that they were misled in their original purchase, that Bioware shouldn't have introduced a character that people paid money for if they weren't planning on giving her the same level of treatment other characters who were in the base game. They felt deceived and that they had bought an implied understanding of how the content they were buying would be integrated into the main game and the main series.
These people have a legitimate complaint that Bioware acted unethically.
Sorry, I'm going to have to adamantly disagree. Especially since we're discussing a luxury game good, of not particularly high value ($7).
Here is where you, the consumer, are now able to make an informed decision: If you did not feel that you are getting full value for your dollar, feel free to wait and purchase it at a dollar point that you feel IS worth your dollar. Which may mean you just don't buy the product.
If you think we're being unethical, exercise your right as a consumer and don't reward us for out lack of ethics. You didn't get full "value" for your $7, so don't give us $7 in the future.
If you think that the lack of refunds in gaming (as a PC gamer for decades, I haven't been able to return opened PC games for pretty much the entirety of my actually being able to buy games) is unethical, then exercise your consumer right and don't purchase video games.
It's not like we're being nefarious here. You're not stupid, and you can clearly see "Huh, I can't get my money back for this" so it's not like you're being blindsided by something that has caught you by surprise. For a luxury good that is completely unnecessary for you to both live life, and live it comfortably.
At this point, what you're effectively doing by
continuing to buy the products is saying "I'm okay still paying this price [since I just did], but I'd really like it cheaper still." Which is kind of a statement of the obvious. Games are a luxury good, not a necessity, and a relatively inexpensive one at that. It's not like we're slapping down thousands of dollars on an automobile or housing that is essential for our lives or anything like that. (As an aside, banks didn't act unethically by handing out tons of 0% down payment mortgages. They acted irresponsibly. And that's an important distinction. There's plenty of other ways that banks behave unethically, but that's not one of them)
So, as a gamer, here's what you do. If you think we're being unethical: don't buy our games. Yes, this means you won't get to play a game that you probably
really want to play. But if you continuously go out and buy a luxury good that you don't feel is worth the money, the only person you can effectively blame is yourself. Change and adapt. Only buy games when they are much cheaper (there's nothing forcing you, aside from your own desires, to play the game at release). If you don't think DLCs are worth it, don't buy them. Yes, this means that you won't get to play content that you may *want* to play, but if you feel that the entire DLC practice is unethical, you
owe it to yourself to not buy it. You're compromising your own morals and convictions by doing so.
As a gamer, you aren't fully understanding the power that you have as a consumer. You go "$7 isn't worth Kasumi DLC. I should get more." Despite the fact that you're well within your right to NOT purchase the content, you *really* want to. You just don't want to pay $7 for it. But because you still do pay the $7 because you do want the content, you end up showing that despite your statements, you're actually okay with paying $7 for it. You just did, and you continue to do so. Same goes for our full games.
To everyone I ask: seriously, if the practice is
that reprehensible, why do you buy the product? I personally do not buy DLCs for two reasons:
1) I have usually moved on past the game when they come out
2) I don't typically feel they are not worth the money
I have no problems with the DLC content, because if people do want it and do feel it's worth the money, and the DLC project itself is profitable, I don't see what is so bad about it. Vague statements like "We used to get full games" doesn't do much to help illuminate the issue. If you don't feel you are getting a full game at $50 or $60, and this is a common occurrence, then absolutely you should seriously consider waiting for the price of games to drop. I already do it (I'm waiting for Skyrim to be $15-$20 before I pick it up, because at that price point I have a reasonable assurance that it'll be worth my money). Heck, if you get into the routine of only buying games after their prices have dropped, you'll still get to a point where there's no shortage of games to play. You're just playing games some time after they are released (which can have additional benefits like patches and whatnot).
So I ask: if you dislike it so much, why do you keep purchasing it? If you think that games are otherwise incomplete without said content, why do you keep purchasing the games? Lastly, how do we reconcile this perspective with those that feel that value is just fine, and do feel that the games are still complete without DLCs?
Modifié par Allan Schumacher, 10 février 2013 - 12:42 .
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